Thrift Store Finds, Tula's Free Spirit, Colouring Books for Designs

I feel like I struck the jackpot when I found this tea pot at one of the local thrift stores.  It matches my dish set...the Friendly Village, and pours beautifully.  It also holds a goodly amount of tea which is great for Hubby with his multiple cups of tea a day habit.

Funny  how coincidences happen.  I'd just gotten this deal from Massdrop, Tula Pink's Free Spirit bundle of fabrics.  Isn't it bright?  I'm adjusting my liking to things a little bolder and brighter striving to move along with the times, as it were. I'd like to think I'm keeping up.

I loved colouring books when young. Did you? Anyway the coincidence is that at the thrift store, there was The Tula Pink Coloring Book.  The designs are great and so are the pictures to colour in the other one I found, Jardin Secret by Johanna Basford.  I won't be colouring but love idly daydreaming about embroidering the designs sometime. I like how colouring book designs can be transferred onto cloth quite easily using my light box and then stitched.

I have looked at both of these at Chapters so quite a treat to find them almost brand new for a quarter the price.

I also found this sweet little jug; it is marked James Kent Ltd, England, and from the 1930's.  Just right for a couple little flowers. I looked it up and it is worth about $15, much more than I paid for it.

Btw, I've had to unsubscribe to Massdrop. The quilting community on there has really grown and is now continually offering deals.  I really can't buy anything more right now and seemingly don't have the will power to resist when I see fabric at a good price.  That lack of control is kind of sad at my age. 
But thrift stores are great spots to practice the three r's- recycle, reuse, reduce.  We are still not up to par with some other cities in recycling.

Speaking of recycling...

I am practicing the Ugly Garden idea and liking it.  It sounds like a thing but really isn't...just not pruning or clearing out all the dead and dying plants (yet).  The birds in particular still find lots to munch on from the drying stalks and old seed heads and it is working.  Hubby called me to look at the plants around the tiny decorative pond in the back.  A flock of American goldfinches were having a field day, with what I'm not sure...but definitely finding something to nibble.  Again, this is something we can do, hidden as we are from the neighbours. I'm not sure how it would go over in the suburbs because frankly, it is kind of ugly.
Here is the state of the Purple Globe Thistle and the Ligularia.

Warmer temperatures during September and into October encouraged both to put out new growth.
I like how I was able to divide these mounds very easily last fall.  Both plants grew well in their new spots and because they are still overlarge and overgrown, I will be dividing them again soon.  I have oodles of places around the property to plant them and the bees and butterflies like them.  Win, win.

I'll leave you with this early morning photo of a pretty plant that is here in abundance and is much loved by bees as well, the foxtail. 

Hope your day is going well and your weekend will too!

So happy to join link parties with friends writing about positives and fun things.
Not Afraid of Color
Little Things Thursday
It's A Small Town Life